love inconceivable, self-principle love; this is the love of God to
man, for God is love. Oh, the depth of the riches of the bounty and
goodness of God! How is his love wonderful, and his grace past
finding out! How do you find and feel your hearts affected upon the
report of these things? Do you not see matter of admiration and cause
of wonder? Are you not as it were launched forth into an ocean of
goodness, where you can see no shore, nor feel no bottom? Ye may make
a judgment of yourselves by the motions and affections that ye feel
in yourselves at the mention of this. For thus Christ judged of the
faith of the centurion that said unto him, "Lord, I am not worthy
that thou shouldst come under my roof. When Jesus heard this, he
marvelled, and said to them that followed him, I say unto you, I have
not found so great faith, no, not in Israel." Matthew 8: 8-10. If,
then, you feel not your souls mightily affected with this
condescension of God, say thus unto your souls, What aileth thee, O
my soul, that thou art no more affected with the goodness of God? Art
thou dead, that thou canst not feel? Or art thou blind, that thou
canst not see thyself compassed about with astonishing goodness?
Behold the King of glory descending from the habitation of his
majesty, and coming to visit thee! Hearest not thou his voice,
saying, "Open to me, my sister: behold, I stand at the door and
knock. Lift up yourselves, O ye gates, and be ye lifted up, ye
everlasting doors, that the King of glory may come in"? Behold, O my
soul, how he waits still, while thou hast refused to open to him! Oh,
the wonder of his goodness! Oh, the condescension of his love, to
visit me, to sue unto me, to wait upon me, to be acquianted with me!
Thus work up your souls into an astonishment at the condescension of
God. James Janeway, 1674.
Verse 4. Man in Hebrew—infirm or miserable man—by
which it is apparent that he speaks of man not according to the state
of his creation, but as fallen into a state of sin, and misery, and
mortality. Art mindful of him, i.e., carest for him, and
conferrest such high favours upon him. The son of man, Hebrew,
the son of Adam, that great apostate from and rebel against
God; the sinful son of a sinlful father—his son by likeness of
disposition and manners, no less than by procreation; all which tends
to magnify the divine mercy. That thou visitest, him —not in
anger, as that word is sometimes used, but with thy grace and mercy,
as it is taken in Genesis 21:1; Exodus 4:31; Psalm 65:9; 106:4;
144:3.
Verse 4. "What is man?" The Scripture gives many
answers to this question. Ask the prophet Isaiah, "What is
man?" and he answers (Isaiah 40:6), man is "grass"—"All flesh is
grass, and all the goodliness thereof is as the flower of the field."
Ask David, "What is man?" He answers (Psalm 62:9), man is
"a lie," not a liar only, or a deceiver, but "a lie,"
and a deceit. All the answers the Holy Ghost gives concerning man,
are to humble man: man is ready to flatter himself, and one man to
flatter another, but God tells us plainly what we are. . . . It is a
wonder that God should vouchsafe a gracious look upon such a creature
as man; it is wonderful, considering the distance between God and
man, as man is a creature and God the creator. "What is man,"
that God should take notice of him? Is he not a clod of earth, a
piece of clay? But consider him as a sinful and an unclean creature,
and we may wonder to amazement: what is an unclean creature that God
should magnify him? Will the Lord indeed put value on filthiness, and
fix his approving eye upon an impure thing? One step further; what is
rebellious man, man an enemy to God, that God should magnify him!
what admiration can answer this question? Will God prefer his
enemies, and magnify those who would cast him down? Will a prince
exalt a traitor, or give him honour who attempts to take away his
life? The sinful nature of man is an enemy to the nature of God, and
would pull God out of heaven; yet God even at that time is raising
man to heaven: sin would lessen the great God, and yet God greatens
sinful man. Joseph Caryl.
Verse 4. "What is man?" Oh, the granduer and
littleness, the excellence and the corruption, the majesty and
meanness of man! Pascal, 1623-1662.
Verse 4. "Thou visitest him." To visit is, first, to
afflict, to chasten, yea, to punish; the highest judgments in
Scripture come under the notions of visitations. "Visiting the
iniquity of the fathers upon the children" (Exodus 34:7), that is,
punishing them. . . . . And it is a common speech with us when a
house hath the plague, which is one of the highest strokes of
temporal affliction, we used to say, "Such a house is visited."
Observe then, afflictions are visitations. . . . Secondly, to visit,
in a good sense, signifies to show mercy, and to refresh, to deliver
and to bless; "Naomi heard how the Lord had visited his people in
giving them bread." Ruth 1:6. "The Lord visited Sarah," etc. Genesis
21:1, 2. That greatest mercy and deliverance that ever the children
of men had, is thus expressed, "The Lord hath visited and redeemed
his people." Luke 1:68. Mercies are visitations; when God comes in
kindness and love to do us good, he visiteth us. And these mercies
are called visitations in two respects: 1. Because God comes near
to us when he doth us good; mercy is a drawing near to a soul, a
drawing near to a place. As when God sends a judgment, or afflicts,
he is said to depart and go away from that place; so when he doth us
good, he comes near, and as it were applies himself in favour to our
persons and habitations. 2. They are called a visitation because of
the freeness of them . A visit is one of the freest things in
the world; there is no obligation but that of love to make a visit;
because such a man is my friend and I love him, therefore I visit
him. Hence that greatest act of free grace in redeeming the world is
called a visitation, because it was as freely done as ever any friend
made a visit to see his friend, and with infinite more freedom. There
was no obligation on man's side at all, many unkindnesses and
neglects there were; God in love came to redeem man. Thirdly, to
visit imports an act of care and inspection, of tutorage and
direction. The pastor's office over the flock is expressed by this
act (Zechariah 10:3; Acts 15:36); and the care we ought to have of
the fatherless and widows is expressed by visiting them. "Pure
religion," saith the apostle James, "Is this, To visit the fatherless
and widows in their affliction" (Chapter 1:27); and in Matthew 25:34,
Christ pronounceth the blessing on them who, when he was in prison,
visited him, which was not a bare seeing, or asking 'how do you,' but
it was care of Christ in his imprisonment, and helpfulness and
provision for him in his afflicted members. That sense also agrees
well with this place, Job 7:17, 18, "What is man, that thou
shouldst visit him?" Joseph Caryl.
Verse 4. "What is man, that thou art mindful of him? or the
son of man, that thou visiteth him?"
Lord, what is man that thou
So mindful art of him? Or what's the son
Of man, that thou the highest heaven didst bow,
And to his aide didst runne?
Man's but a piece of clay
That's animated by thy heavenly breath,
And when that breath thou tak'st away,
Hee's clay again by death.
He is not worthy of the least
Of all Thy mercies at the best.
Baser than clay is he,
For sin hath made him like the beasts that perish,
Though next the angels he was in degree;
Yet this beast thou dost cherish.
Hee is not worthy of the least,
Of all thy mercies, hee's a beast.
Worse than a beast is man,
Who after thine own image made at first,
Became the divel's sonne by sin. And can
A thing be more accurst?
Yet thou thy greatest mercy hast
On this accursed creature cast.
Thou didst thyself abase,
And put off all thy robes of majesty,
Taking his nature to give him thy grace,
To save his life didst dye.
He is not worthy of the least
Of all thy mercies; one's a feast.
Lo! man is made now even
With the blest angels, yea, superiour farre,
Since Christ sat down at God's right hand in heaven,
And God and man one are.
Thus all thy mercies man inherits,
Though not the least of them he merits.
Thomas Washbourne, D.D., 1654.
Verse 4. "What is man?"
How poor, how rich, how abject, how august,
How complicate, how wonderful is man!
How passing wonder HE who made him such!
Who centred in our make such strange extremes!
From different natures marvelously mix'd,
Connexion exquisite of distant worlds!
Distinguish'd link in being's endless chain!
Midway from nothing to the Deity!
A beam ethereal, sullied and absorb'd,
Though sullied and dishonour'd, still divine!
Dim miniature of greatness absolute!
An heir of glory! a frail child of dust!
Helpless , immortal! insect infinite!
A worm! a god! I tremble at myself,
And in myself am lost.
Edward Young, 1681-1775.
( Verses 4-8)— "What is man," etc.:
—Man is ev'ry thing,
And more: he is a tree, yet bears no fruit;
A beast, yet is, or should be more:
Reason and speech we onely bring.
Parrats may thank us, if they are not mute,
They go upon the score.
Man is all symmetrie,
Full of proportions, one limbe to another,
And all to all the world besides:
Each part may call the farthest, brother.
For head with foot hath private amitie,
And both with moons and tides.
Nothing hath got so farre,
But man hath caught and kept it, as his prey.
His eyes dismount the highest starre:
He is in little all the sphere.